WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement agencies said that domestic terrorism is a real and present danger in America.
Tuesday on Capitol Hill, lawmakers heard from victims and debated about who is to blame.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing was set to examine violent extremist threats following the May 14 mass shooting allegedly carried out by a self-described white supremacist at the Buffalo, New York Topps Friendly Market.
That attack killed 10 African Americans and the Justice Department is investigating it as a hate crime.
Among the witnesses at the hearing was the former commissioner of the Buffalo Fire Dept. whose 86-year-old mother, Ruth, was one of the victims.
"For her to be murdered, taken away from us by someone so full of hate, is impossible to understand," said Garnell Whitfield Jr. "White supremacy is the number one threat to the homeland. And yet, nothing's been done to mitigate it or eradicate it."
While the hearing seemed designed to specifically explore cases of white suspects threatening and harming minority victims, Sen. Check Grassley (R-Iowa) appeared to go out of his way to point out that there have also been numerous instances of Black suspects harming white victims.
"In 2016, two Black racists killed eight police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge in 11 days," he said. "According to a 2021 report from the FBI, Black racially-motivated violent extremism was the deadliest ideology in 2017. Even though the press only focuses on far-right attacks, the most deadly ideologies often change year to year."
The Senate last week failed to advance a bill requiring the FBI, Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security to open offices dedicated to tackling domestic terrorism and create a task force to address white supremacy in the U.S. military.